Cerebral palsy

Definition

Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions, such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking.

There are several different types of cerebral palsy, including spastic, dyskinetic, ataxic, hypotonic, and mixed.

Causes

Cerebral palsy is caused by injuries or abnormalities of the brain. Most of these problems occur as the baby grows in the womb. But they can happen at any time during the first 2 years of life, while the baby's brain is still developing.

In some people with cerebral palsy, parts of the brain are injured due to a low level of oxygen (hypoxia) in the area. It is not known why this occurs.

Premature infants have a slightly higher risk of developing cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy may also occur during early infancy as a result of several conditions, including:

Symptoms

Symptoms of cerebral palsy can be very different between people with this group of disorders. Symptoms may:

Be very mild or very severe

Only involve one side of the body or both sides

Be more pronounced in either the arms or legs, or involve both the arms and legs

Symptoms are usually seen before a child is 2 years old. Sometimes symptoms begin as early as 3 months. Parents may notice that their child is delayed in reaching developmental stages such as sitting, rolling, crawling, or walking.

There are several different types of cerebral palsy. Some people have a mixture of symptoms.

Symptoms of spastic cerebral palsy, the most common type, include:

Muscles that are very tight and do not stretch. They may tighten up even more over time.